I'm Still Here
by Spaidel
Summary: Apodis from District One volunteered as the male tribute in the 37th Hunger Games. He was told not to trust the other careers, not to get attached to them. This was easier said than done. Slash, M/M.
1. Chapter 1

******This will be a slash fic, which means, if you don't like M/M... well, that's not the right place for you!******

******DISCLAIMER: I do not own the hunger games. Suzanne collins does. I do own all the original characters though.**

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**Chapter 1**

_It's my year. It's my year. It's my year._

I repeated those three words over and over in my head, feeling more awake than ever, even though it was four o'clock in the morning. Those words meant everything to me.

_This will be my year. This is my year. I'm going to volunteer as a tribute. I'm going to compete in The Hunger Games. I'm going to win._

I stretched my hands and closed my eyes. I needed to rest. I needed to be as fresh as possible at the reaping. I took a deep breathe when my nerves kicked in. _I can't overthink what I'll do at the reaping. I can't back down._

I stayed in my bed for another two hours before I got out of bed. It was six o'clock in the morning. I walked downstairs to the living room. Father wasn't there. He was probably still sleeping. I smiled a little as I made myself an omelet.

Twenty minutes later I heard noises coming from upstairs, which meant my father woke up. I shifted in my place as he walked downstairs, looking tired and annoyed and as unpleasant as always.

He didn't even look at my direction.

Which was fine by me. I didn't need him, I didn't want his approval. He was pathetic, always drunk, couldn't even keep himself awake at seven pm. I hated him, and he hated me. I didn't care that he hated me, and I was almost 100% sure he didn't know just how much I hated him.

Most of the time, we didn't even talk to each other.

The moment father sat in an armchair I got on my feet, not wanting to be in the same room as him. He didn't seem to care.

I got dressed quickly and looked at my reflection in the mirror. The shirt sat nicely on my body and tightened around my muscles. The pants were the only white pair of pants I had, and so I put them on. I had to look representable.

I ran a hand through my short, blonde hair. It wasn't messy, and it always looked the same. I took another deep breath and sat on my bed, leaning against the wall behind me. I was ready. Now, I had nothing to do except wait.

This proved to be more difficult than I thought, and I found myself walking in my room, from one side to another, pacing nervously. I hated being nervous, but I was. I decided it was a good nervous, that this meant I was excited more than scared. I was excited. I hoped I wasn't scared.

Finally, it was time to go to the reaping. I hesitated once I got to the front door, not sure if I should tell father I was going to volunteer at the reaping. I decided he won't care either way; for him, it'll only mean one mouth less to feed.

The main square in District One was half filled when I got there. I signed in quickly and headed towards the Seventeen years old line. I smiled at several of my friends and fuck buddies and looked at the stage. Only one person was there; the mayor.

Half an hour later, the main square was filled. The male and female mentors were already seated in their chairs on the stage and the escort was seated next to them.

The mayor started his speech about the rebels and the Hunger Games and the Capitol. All I could think about during that speech was, _'I'm going to volunteer, I'm going to volunteer, I'm going to volunteer.'_

I listened intently when our escort, Liopella, walked towards the microphone. Her hair was as white as milk, and if it wasn't for her young face, she would've looked like a seventy year old woman.

"Welcome, to the reaping for the 37th Hunger Games!" she said, smiling a wide smile. The crowd cheered. I cheered as well. We, after all, were taught that the Hunger Games was a good thing, an honorable thing. Everyone here wanted to participate in it. Some might say we were brainwashed by the Capitol. I say we were just better educated because of the Capitol.

"We'll start with the girls, as usual." Liopella smiled and walked towards the huge girls' reaping bowl. She picked a piece of paper quickly and unfolded it.

"Nova –"

"I volunteer!"

Three different girls shouted this sentence, and those three girls raced each other to the stage. The one that got there first smiled in triumph and waved her hand to the cheering crowd.

"Tabitha Shine," she said to the microphone, answering a question she wasn't asked.

Liopella smiled at the golden haired girl. "How exciting! A volunteer!" This wasn't that exciting, actually. Not in District One at least. There wasn't a single year without a volunteer, even at the very first Hunger Games.

"And now, let's pick the boy!" Liopella made her way to the boys' reaping bowl and picked a piece of paper.

"D-"

"I volunteer!"

I practically ran to the stage, not caring who I hurt in the way. I could hear at least two other boys making their way to the stage, but I got there first. I, just like Tabitha, smiled in triumph. I didn't feel nervous at all anymore. I felt like I was meant to be here, on stage.

"Apodis Eridanus," I said to the microphone and smiled my best smile. The crowd cheered again. Liopella clapped her hands enthusiastically.

"Splendid, splendid! I represent to you – District One's tributes!" The crowd cheered again. "Now, shake hands."

We shook hands while looking at each other, calculating the other person's weaknesses and strengths. The girl was beautiful; no way she won't use it to her advantage. She would probably get a lot of sponsors from her looks alone. She looked strong, too, which meant she was good in at least one weapon. I didn't know more than that, didn't know anything about her – she was one year younger than me – and so I decided to check her abilities in training before the games.

I was escorted to a room in the justice building to say goodbye to my loved ones. My friends came in, all happy with me going to the hunger games. They said I can make it. I believed them. I was strong, I knew how to handle weapon. The only problem was the other career tributes, who, like me, could handle weapons, but I knew I could kill them easily.

After my friends left I had nothing else to do but wait until my hour came to an end. Father didn't come to say goodbye. I didn't find it all that surprising. He probably didn't even know I was going to the Hunger Games.

Finally, two peacekeepers walked in and told me to come after them. They led me to a train. Tabitha was already there, winking and waving and posing in front of the photographers and the interviewers around the train. I smiled a lopsided smile and waved at several of the people there, too.

I got onto the train quickly, not really wanting to chat with the interviewers. I had to wait awhile until Tabitha got onto the train, and even a longer while until Liopella got onto the train. The doors closed and the train started moving.

Liopella turned to Tabitha and me, smiling. "I'm sure you're very excited about going to the Hunger Games. You both look so… fit." She looked at me while saying that, surveying my body in approval. I didn't know what to say to that, mostly because white hair really wasn't my type, so I stayed quiet.

"Let me lead you to the dining room," she said finally and started walking. Tabitha and I followed her. "The food here is marvelous, you'll just love it! Though I'm sure the food in your district is great, better than the food in the other districts, that's for sure! Not that you get any special treatment or something, you're just like everyone else, only better fed, I guess, though this is mostly because of your district's profession… Yes, here is the dining room. Beautiful, isn't it?"

Tabitha gasped and started telling Liopella how beautiful everything looked. I rolled my eyes and sat in one of the chairs near the big table in the middle. It really was a nice room, especially for a room in a train, but I didn't come here for the pretty rooms. I was a guy and, well, pretty rooms weren't that special to me.

A door suddenly opened and two people walked into the room. The mentors this year. Both big, both fit, both beautiful, both dangerous. The regular District One's victors.

The male mentor, Polish, surveyed me, calculating everything there was to calculate about my looks. The female mentor, Grace, did the same to Tabitha.

"You know how to use weapon, I assume," Grace said finally, getting straight down to business. We both nodded our heads.

"You went to the training center?" We nodded our heads again.

"So, tell us a bit about yourselves."

"I'm a good runner," Tabitha said, knowing exactly what Polish meant by telling them about ourselves. "I can use a spear and I'm very good with knives. I have a good aim. I can't climb, I'm not good when I'm not on the ground. My best ability is throwing knives from great distance."

Grace nodded her head in approval.

"I can lift heavy weight," I said. "I can use swords pretty good. I don't have a great aim, I'm better in hand-to-hand combat. I'm good with a mace. I don't know how to make fire or what plants are edible. I can't climb. My weapon of choice is a mace."

Polish looked thoughtful for a moment. "You need to learn which plants are edible. It can be fatal in the games. There aren't any guaranties there'll be a mace in the arena."

"Like I said, I'm handy with a sword as well."

"I'm pretty sure there'll be a sword there." Polish nodded his head. "Are you handy with knives? They always put knives in the arena."

"No. Can't use knives. I can't throw them at people. I can use them only when I'm close to someone."

Liopella, apparently, was getting bored with our conversation, because she said, "Time to eat, time to eat!"

The food was, indeed, marvelous. I stuffed myself with beef and rice and chicken and potatoes and other things I didn't bother learning their names. At the end of the meal, Liopella jumped to her feet and looked at the clock in her hand.

"Time to watch the reapings! Time to watch the reapings!" It annoyed me, how she always repeated the same thing twice. I didn't say anything though and just walked after her and sat in front of the TV in one of the sofas. Tabitha sat next to me. Grace, Polish and Liopella sat in another sofa.

Our reaping was first, and I saw Tabitha smiling a wide smile, looking gorgeous. Then it was my turn, and I was happy to see I didn't look bad up there.

Then it was District Two's reaping, and the girl actually wrestled the other girls in her way to the stage. Her hair was black, her eyes too small, and she looked lethal.

Her district partner looked big and intimidating. His muscles were bigger than mine, something I didn't like. He smiled a huge smile.

"Our fellow careers," Tabitha muttered next to me. I nodded my head and kept looking at the TV screen.

District Three was nothing special. Then it was District Four's reaping.

The girl was beautiful, even more beautiful than Tabitha. Her hair was bronze, her eyes big and blue, her skin flawless. Tabitha frowned when she looked at the pretty girl.

Her district partner was, well, handsome. Very handsome. He had golden skin, light brown hair and green eyes. He smiled a lopsided smile that revealed very white, very straight teeth. Liopella sighed with pleasure. "What a treat," she said.

District Five was nothing special. Neither was District Six. The boy from District Seven looked strong. The girl from District Eight cried her eyes out when she got reaped. District Nine was nothing special. The girl from District Ten looked tough. District Eleven and Twelve were pathetic.

"What do you think?" Polish said as he turned out the TV.

"The other careers look strong," I said immediately. "The boy from Seven and the girl from Ten look strong."

"The boy from Eight looked strong, too," Tabitha added. I raised my eyebrow and tried to remember the boy from District Eight. I didn't even know what he looked like.

"Stick with the careers," Grace said simply. "Stick with them until there are only handful of tributes left. Then will be your time to fight them. You do want to train together, right?"

Tabitha and I looked at each other before shaking our heads. Each tribute to himself, after all.

"Very well. Come with me."

Tabitha walked after Grace while I stayed with Polish. Liopella walked out of the room, saying something about adding a layer of glitters to her face.

"You think you can do it?" Polish asked me.

"I know I can." I was confident about it.

"Don't get attached to anyone out there. You can't bring yourself to care about the other tributes. Not your allies, not your enemies. They might stab you in the back at the end. Literally."

I nodded my head, to show him I was listening to his words.

"Like I said before, when you're training to the games, go to the edible plants station. And learn how to build a fire as well. You can't rely on your allies too much; they might know nothing about it, after all."

I nodded my head again. He eyed me for a moment.

"You should go to sleep," he said simply and rose to his feet. "We're getting to the Capitol tomorrow, and then there're the chariot rides the day after."

Chariot rides. This I wasn't very enthusiastic about, but I nodded my head again, showing respect to my mentor, and walked out of the room.

This won't be fun.

I wished I could just skip all this and jump right into the games.

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	2. Chapter 2

******DISCLAIMER: I do not own the hunger games. Suzanne collins does. I do own all the original characters though.**

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**Chapter 2**

We arrived at the Capitol at 04:21 am. I knew that because Liopella felt it was her duty to wake me up and inform me we got to the Capitol at that hour. She then walked out of the room, and I heard her waking up Tabitha, wanting her to be excited as she was.

I heard a loud shriek of pain from Tabitha's room and smiled; Tabitha was definitely not a morning person.

I drifted off to sleep again, because really, there was no point in Liopella waking me up; even though we were at the Capitol now, we had nothing to do today, and so we were in no hurry.

Stupid escort.

At 08:49 am I woke up fully and headed towards the shower. Weird shower, I didn't know how to change the water temperature, or where the soap was, or which button to push. We had showers in District One, this wasn't supposed to be so difficult for me to handle, but it was.

No matter how advanced District One was, the Capitol was always ahead of us, technology wise.

I decided to go with the safe option and pushed the biggest button there; the water came cold, but I gritted my teeth and sucked it up; I didn't know how to change the water temperature, and decided not to try the other buttons there. There were just too many.

I couldn't find the soap anywhere, I probably had to push one of the buttons for the soap to emerge, and so I finished with the shower more quickly than ever. Not that it took me too much time to get clean, I wasn't dirty or anything, it's just that I love being under the water, kinda falling asleep there, in complete peace.

We ate breakfast, still in the train, and then Liopella informed us District Two were here, and Four about to be here soon, and if we wanted to meet the other Careers we should get off the train and settle down in the building that tomorrow will occupy all the tributes from all the different districts.

"Remember their names?" Tabitha asked me as we got off the train. There weren't too many Capitol people waiting for us, most of the people here were probably still sleeping even though it was already 10:17 am, but the people that were there all tried to get our attention.

We ignored them.

"I don't even remember what they look like." I knew she was talking about the other Careers.

"I do. Just not their names. Though I think the girl's name from District Two starts with an O."

I just shrugged in response, really not caring all that much what our fellow careers' names were. We'll meet them soon enough, we'll learn their names then.

We got into the building and immediately settled in our floor. The first floor, the bottom floor. The top floor must be a lot better than this bottom floor, but oh well. District One was still way better than District Twelve, in every sense.

After all, there were 8 victors from District One, and no one from Twelve. So let them have the top floor; they won't get to occupy it again.

Tabitha and I waited in the hall next to the elevator on the first floor for District Two to arrive; it was an unspoken rule, apparently, for the tributes of District One to wait for the tributes from District Two and Four. The first floor, District One's floor, was like the operation base, where we were to meet.

The tributes from District Two came after 13 minutes, looking strong and big like the regular District Two Careers. My body tensed without me even realizing. They looked like a tough competition.

Tabitha smiled a tense smile at them. They nodded their heads, showing respect to us, their fellow careers.

"District One," the boy from District Two said as a greeting.

"District Two," I said just as stiffly. "My name's Apodis Eridanus. Her name," I gestured at Tabitha, "Is Tabitha Shine."

"Orion Lupus and Sagitta Cygnus," the boy said. The girl's name didn't start with an O, like Tabitha thought.

"Where is District Four?" Sagitta looked around her, like she was expecting the tributes from District Four to just pop out of thin air. Stupid girl.

"Not here yet. Don't know when they're supposed to get here," Tabitha said.

"Oh." Sagitta looked a little… disappointed? I had no idea why, but I didn't dwell on it. It wasn't important.

"What do you think?" I asked them, not knowing if it was necessary for the tributes from Four to be here to talk about strategy. I decided to just start calculating what the other tributes are like without them, and maybe fill them in when they'll get here.

"All looked pathetic and weak," Orion said, waving his hand to show just how pathetic and weak he thought the other tributes were.

"I bet everyone looks pathetic and weak in your eyes," Tabitha murmured, eyeing his big muscles not with awe but with calculation. She was trying to find a way for her to beat him later on in the games, and she didn't try to hide it.

He, however, didn't seem to notice her face expression, and if he did, he didn't seem to mind. He knew he was a tough competition, and he was proud of it.

"I agree, most of them didn't look very strong, but I bet one or two of them might have a special skill, with weapon or with anything, really. You can't just wave them off so fast without seeing what they're able to do," I said stiffly.

"They probably aren't able to do anything, seeing the Districts they come from," he said, still not taking our competition seriously, the idiot.

"Maybe so, but you don't know about it. They can be tough, they can be a real competition."

"They aren't tougher than me. And anyway, I'll still be able to kill them, no matter if they're able to lift an axe or not. I'm a Career."

God, he really was an idiot. I already hated the guy. My future ally. My present ally.

He'll probably be the first tribute I'll kill in our Career alliance.

"Good that you don't think too highly of yourself," Tabitha murmured from her place next to me. I smiled.

Orion heard her and gave her a disdainful look. "At least _I_ have a reason to think highly of myself. You're weak, weaker than me and Sagitta and your District partner. You aren't going to win this thing."

He was right, which was a shocker, but that didn't mean she deserved being told that. She was, after all, my District partner, and so I decided I'd stick with her mostly. She was from home, she was the only thing familiar in this place.

Before I could say anything to him, maybe it was best that I didn't anger the big guy, the elevator's doors opened and the tributes from District Four headed towards us.

They were even better looking in person, though I did remember they didn't look bad after watching them on TV yesterday. The girl was beautiful, the guy, by far the best looking guy in this games. They will be a tough competition because of their looks, but I didn't look that bad either, and I felt like I was stronger than them. I could win in a fight against them, I was pretty confident about it.

They both smiled at us, not cockily but pleasantly. This took me a bit off guard, why did they smile pleasantly, but I decided not to start analyze their behavior. Analyzing things too deeply wasn't me at all.

"Hello," the girl said and smiled. Tabitha smiled back at her.

"What are your names?" the boy asked. We told them our names.

"Orion Lupus?" He asked Orion, who grunted in response. "You know, Orion is a constellation, and its English name is Hunter, and Lupus's is Wolf."

Another grunt.

"And Sagitta in English is Arrow, and Cygnus is Swan," his District partner said to Sagitta Cygnus, who wasn't as rude to them as her District partner. She actually looked quite interested in what they said.

"How do you know that?" she asked them.

"School," the boy said simply.

"Ooh, what about my name?" Tabitha asked excitedly.

"Ahh… I don't know. It's not a constellation," the girl said, looking apologized.

Tabitha looked disappointed.

"But, we did learn that Apodis is another name to Apus, a constellation that in English means Bird Of Paradise," the boy said, directing his words to me. "And Eridanus is River."

I raised one of my eyebrows. "What does your name mean, then?"

"Cetus means Sea Monster," the boy said, finally revealing that his name was Cetus. What a stupid name. "And Volans, my last name, means Flying Fish."

Tabitha looked really excited with all the names thing. "What about you?" She asked his District partner.

"Hydra's translation in English is Sea Water Snake, while Capricornus is- " she blushed and murmured something.

"What? Didn't hear you."

Hydra looked uncomfortable. "Sea Goat."

Orion snorted loudly. "How fitting."

In a minute Cetus pinned Orion against the wall behind him, looking at him threateningly. He was smaller than him, way smaller, yet he was able to keep him pinned against the wall without him being able to break free. This was impressive, and made me take this Cetus guy as a more serious competition.

"Don't make fun of her," Cetus hissed at the huge guy, not looking intimidated by him. Orion still looked a bit surprised by the sudden attack, but now he looked more angry than surprised. Cetus let him go and Orion growled at him, like the moron he was.

"If you ever, think about doing it again- " he started, looking extremely pissed off, but I decided to interfere that second.

"Stop with the fighting. We're going to be in the games soon, we need to keep the alliance strong." I looked at the both of them with a serious expression, knowing that I just made myself the leader of the pack by telling them what to do and being the responsible one. They knew it too, by Orion's growl (he was like a psychotic animal), but didn't object.

"Fine. But don't ever do it again," Orion said to Cetus coldly and walked into the elevator, his district partner behind him. They were gone in a minute.

Hydra turned to look at Cetus. "You didn't have to defend me."

"You're from home. You're my District partner," he said simply.

"I can defend myself well enough on my own," she said stiffly.

"I know."

This ended their conversation.

Tabitha looked at Cetus, then at Hydra, and then said, "Well, without District Two here, I think there's nothing more we can say."

Cetus nodded his head, agreeing with Tabitha, said a short, stiff 'Goodbye', then walked into the elevator with Hydra.

"Think we can trust them?" Tabitha asked as we made our way to the living room.

"No," I answered truthfully. "Then again, you can never really trust someone in these games. That might be the worst mistake you can make here – trust someone."

She looked at me with a blank expression for a moment before shrugging. "I liked District Four better than District Two."

"Yeah, well, District Two looked like animals."

"The girl wasn't that bad."

"No, you're right, the girl didn't have the same animal features like the boy," I agreed with her. "She did have a predator's eyes though."

"The guy was awful," Tabitha said simply. "Growled every two seconds."

"Too bad we can't choose our alliance."

Yes, our alliance was chosen for us, ever since the first Hunger Games where District Two and One made an alliance. Then, two Hunger Games later, District Four joined them and formed the most brutal, strongest alliance in the games.

"Better have him as an ally than an enemy," Tabitha said eventually.

"We're still his enemies, even though we're in the same alliance," I said.

"I don't want him to win," she said after a few minutes of silence.

I looked at her, puzzled. "Well, of course you don't want him to win; you want yourself to."

"No, I meant, if I won't win this thing… I don't want him to."

This made me confused. Why was she talking about a possibility where she won't win this thing? She was a Career, she was supposed to be confident about her survival. She wasn't supposed to talk about possibilities where she might die.

She gave me a stiff smile and walked out of the living room, leaving me on the sofa, thinking about her words.

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	3. Chapter 3

******DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Hunger Games. Suzanne Collins does. I do own all the original characters though.**

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**********Chapter 3**

Fuck.

Shit.

Oh, dear god!

Why did the tributes in the Hunger Games have to get rid of their body hair?

Or, more accurately, why did _I_ have to get rid of my body hair?

I wasn't that hairy, after all. My hair wasn't dark. Most importantly, I wasn't a girl.

So why did I have to suffer through this horrible, horrible treatment?

I kept repeating in my head, _'You've been through worst. You've been through worst. You've been through worst,'_ but man, when one of the woman in my prep team ripped more hair from my chest, I found it hard to remember the other painful things I've been through in life.

And wasn't it weird, that this thing that women here in the Capitol did all the time, made me want to kill myself?

Man, I hoped it will be worth it in the Games.

My prep team finally finished getting rid of all my hair, beside the hair on my head, thank god, and decided that it was time for a bath.

And the bath hurt. A lot.

Of course.

They scrub all the filth and dirt off me, not that I was dirty, mind you, but their definition of clean and my definition of clean was, apparently, very different.

At the end my bath-from-hell was finished, and my prep team moved to take care of my nails, which made me feel quite pathetic, and then put lotion all over my body, which, again, made me feel pathetic.

Like they took a part of my masculinity and squashed it.

Being treated by those people made me feel like a freaking girl.

Fuck. I hated it. I truly did.

And the thing was, I couldn't say anything rude to them. Oh, hell no. I had to _smile_. A big, fake smile. I knew how to be charming when I wanted to, and even though I really, _really_ didn't want to be charming to them, they got all the chest hair I had off of me after all, I knew I had to be. Because they were my prep team. And because they were from the capitol. And because they, and my stylist of course, were in charge of my clothes for the rest of my staying here.

I just wanted to get the fuck out of there.

But I knew I couldn't. So I just smiled.

The minute they walked out of the room to get my stylist, I exhaled loudly and sat down on one of the comfy sofas that were in there. Standing there, in the middle of the room, while three… people? They didn't look like people, the color of their skin was purple after all, but oh well, let's say people… three people staring at me, moving around me, pointing out every flaw I had, debating whether or not I will look good in yellow, and just looking at my... _thing,_ intently… well, this made me feel rather unnerved.

And it wasn't like I was embarrassed about my body, hell no, I was in shape and I was confident of the way I looked, but just being stared at made me feel small, like a little boy.

I decided not to put on my robe again, I will just have to take it off again soon after all, so I just sat there, completely exposed, but not as embarrassed as I was before. I was alone, after all.

My stylist, a weird woman with green hair and white contacts lenses, came into the room and immediately started to dress me up. My prep team didn't accompany her, thank god. At least that woman did her work quietly. My prep team was under the assumption I wanted to talk to them while getting scrubbed in a bathtub.

I will admit, the costume was nice. It was rather shiny, which I didn't like, I was a boy after all and shiny things definitely weren't my cup of tea, but it looked good on me and I was completely sure this costume will draw the Capitol people's attention.

It was made of diamonds. And rubies. And sapphires. And a lot of other shiny, expansive stones.

When I win this games, will I be able to take it home with me? With this costume I will be able to buy a car. Two cars. And will still have extra for basic things. Like a house in the Capitol. And a dog. Or a spider.

My costume was consisted of pants and no shirt, which meant my chest, my _hairless_ chest, was exposed. My stylist, whose name I didn't know and didn't bother learning, covered my chest with a glittery powder, and told me that I looked fabulous and ready to go. She barely did anything. She just put me in a costume and covered me with glitters.

I made my way out of the room the minute she told me I can go, and had the feeling she was staring at me. Or, more accurately, my butt. This thought made me feel a bit uncomfortable since there weren't many girls that noticed me like that in District One. Well, that wasn't completely true, I was hot after all, but I never took too much notice of them. I was more into fighting than girls.

Which might be weird, considering I was still a teenage, hormonal boy. Wasn't I meant to think of girls all day long and want to get into their pants?

Whatever. Fighting is better than girls. And easier to understand, that's for sure.

I walked into a big room where the chariots were and looked around. I was the only one there. Great.

I had to wait there for 32 minutes before the next tribute came into the room. And the next tribute was the little boy from District Twelve. Which meant, no one that was worthy of my time and attention was here yet.

I looked at the little boy from Twelve. Man, he was small. I was sure I would be able to break him like a twig. Maybe I will break him like a twig when we'll be in the games, who knew? I knew I was capable of doing that. I wasn't afraid of killing. I didn't kill anyone before, but I did fight, and I did injure people. How different could it be, really? To kill someone. It would be the same, only the person I injure won't get back on his feet again.

Not scary at all.

I waited for thirteen more minutes before someone I knew, or at least was in an alliance with, came into the room.

The male tribute from District Four, Cetus I think, spotted me immediately and walked towards me with a smile. I grunted. He smiled yesterday too. He and his District partner. Why did he have to smile? For some reason, his smile made me feel unnerved. Like there was something stirring in my stomach.

His chest was bare too, and he wore something that looked like a tiny skirt. It didn't look funny on him though, he was built well and so the little skirt didn't make him look very feminine, but still, it was a skirt. His stylist colored his skin blue, or more accurately light blue, which didn't suit him too well, but whatever.

He got to where I was sitting and sat down next to me without waiting for a greeting.

"Hey," He said and smiled again.

I felt this annoying feeling in my stomach again, like something was stirring in there, but didn't try to understand what it meant. I probably just hated the guy.

"Hi," I said back.

"You're lucky that you're form District One," Cetus said and gestured at what I was wearing. "District One always steal the thunder. You shine the most because of all the jewelries your stylists put on you. District Four always dressed as some kind of a fish."

"You're not dressed as a fish," I noted.

"Yeah, well apparently my luck sucks."

"How come?"

"Fish are at least a more common costume. More familiar with the crowd. District Four have new stylists this year, and those stylists like to think outside of the box."

"And?"

He smiled a little. "Well, I don't know if you've noticed it, but I'm blue."

"Oh right. I forgot you're usually _not_ blue."

He chuckled, and I had to smile a little too. He ran a hand through his hair and looked at the floor.

"I'm supposed to be a sea god," He said with a shrug.

I looked at his costume again. A tiny skirt, blue skin…

"I don't see it," I said, not understanding what his costume had to do with a sea god.

"Yeah, I don't find any resemblance between this and a sea god either," He said and looked at me again with a small smile. "Did you notice how almost everyone here wear just a small piece of cloth, to hide his or hers private areas? I swear, those stylists are getting sicker and sicker every year. They just want us all to wear as least as possible."

I looked around me at the other tributes, and found out that he was right. There was more bare skin than covered skin.

"It's almost painful to watch some of the costumes here," I commented as I watched the little girl from Seven trying to organize the twigs that came out of her costume in a way that didn't hurt her.

Cetus chuckled, which made the weird feeling in my stomach return. Again, I ignored whatever it was.

"It seems like Tabitha is rather excited with your costumes," Cetus noted and gestured at Tabitha, who walked into the room with a huge smile.

She looked better than me in her costume, that much was clear. Not that I looked bad, oh hell no, but she looked better. The jewelries complimented her. And you could see she just loved the glitters on her body.

"Oh Apodis, don't you just love it? Look at how shiny it is!" Tabitha beamed at me when she got to where Cetus and I were sitting.

"Yes, the shininess of it all is rather enchanting," I said, obviously being sarcastic.

it wasn't that obvious to her, Apparently.

"Oh, I knew you'd love it!" She smiled and clapped her hands enthusiastically.

Cetus snorted.

We had to wait for another 47 minutes before everyone finished getting dressed, and then it was time to get onto the chariots.

I climbed onto the chariot first, then helped Tabitha get onto it as well.

We waited.

"Nervous?" Tabitha asked me as we looked at the big old doors in front of us. Those doors separated us from the Capitol, from all the people, from the huge crowd, from the President and the Gamemakers…

"No, not nervous at all," I lied.

She let out a breathless laugh. "I am. What will happen if I fall? I would die of shame."

I tried to look at it in a practical way. "No, if you fall, you'll probably die from the horses running all over you; I bet shame won't have a huge part in your dying."

"That's just not what you say to a nervous girl to calm her down," Tabitha informed me, but smiled.

"Didn't try to calm you down," I answered honestly. She just rolled her eyes at me, but still smiled a little.

The doors opened.

Our chariot began to move forward, the horses started running, and I looked around me. The sudden light that came from outside made me temporarily blind. I heard more than saw the crowd, the way they screamed my name, the way they screamed Tabitha's name.

Maybe I was a little biased, but I was sure they called my name more than they called Tabitha's name.

I looked at the crowd when I regained my ability to see. They were… colorful. Very colorful. It hurt my eyes. I decided to just look forward and not look at them directly. I smiled my beautiful lopsided smile and heard some of the people in the crowd cheering.

Stupid people.

The Chariot Ride didn't take too long, and soon we were all inside of a big building where we'll be staying for the rest of the week. It was a different building than the building we were in yesterday. This building was even bigger.

Tabitha and I got to our floor, the first floor, quickly and I checked my room. It was a big room. The color of the walls was red.

The color of blood.

Hmm.

Tabitha and I met our mentors and escort in the dining room, and after we ate we watched the recap of the Chariot Rides. I looked good. Tabitha looked good, too. Orion, the beefy beast that he was, growled through the whole ride. Sagitta looked at the crowd with a superior look. I didn't look at Hydra. I looked at Cetus instead.

His skin looked really funny.

For some reason, I didn't want to stop looking at him. But I did, because it was weird to stare at other boys. So I turned my attention to District Five. They were boring. They looked awful.

I went to sleep that night with a feeling of content; it felt good to know that the Chariot Rides was behind me.

Thank god for training tomorrow.

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